


Rediscovering Wings

by ink_like_starlight



Category: Original - Fandom
Genre: Gen, Original work - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-04
Updated: 2018-12-04
Packaged: 2019-09-06 23:59:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 477
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16843054
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ink_like_starlight/pseuds/ink_like_starlight
Summary: A piece I did for my fiction writing course at University.





	Rediscovering Wings

Magic is real. Alayne knew because she held it in her hands. Magic that gave others the power to fly. Magic in the form of a backpack full of spray paint. Alone this warm June evening, Alayne stood, the soft hiss of a can her only company, the dim glow of distant street lamps her only light.  
Getting the colors right was difficult. Not to mention the fact that she had to work fast. The city police department was not her biggest fan, despite dedicating a small task force to apprehending her. Alayne felt sort of honored, in a way, when she saw the news on social media. They even inspired her current piece: a redo of the work that started it all two years ago. Beginning with long broad stroke then many shorter ones, Alayne painted magic. Black, then brown, then red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, a literal rainbow of color broadly and boldly spread along the bricks.  
Wings.  
Angel wings feathered with the LGBTQ+ colors, spanning the length of a compact car, the left and right wings separated by a person-sized gap. Inscribed under the creation, “In memory of Pulse Nightclub, June 12th 2018” in simple, somber script. She’d created a similar piece, the spark that started her own personal rebellion, the night after the Pulse Nightclub shooting, the night her tears boiled with anger.  
Alayne shook away the memory and stood between the wings. Making sure her face was hidden in the shadow of her hood, she started the timer on her camera balanced on a tripod of old boxes.  
A flash of her camera, then, suddenly, the red and blue flash of passing police sirens. She scooped the camera into her backpack and disappeared into the night. 

Hours later, as the sun broke the horizon, her message of empowerment-- her memorial--was discovered. A photo appeared on Instagram, tagging her public account “Empowerwings,” because even if she was an edgy, artistic fugitive of the night with a knack for activism, she still enjoyed a good pun, dammit. Alayne posted her own photo to the account and immediately received comments of support and love.  
Scrolling through the rest of her photos, she recalled the past two years of evading law enforcement and painting interactive magic all over her city. Alayne glanced over angel wings, butterfly wings, bird wings, bat wings, fairie wings, dragon wings, all titled phrases such as “love is love,” “Black Lives Matter,” “eat the rich,” “punch a nazi,” “abolish the prison system,” and “believe women.” Each piece gained popularity, with Instagram personalities visiting her very Instagram worthy pieces and spreading the message with each photo they posted. Each piece a beautiful potential profile picture, but also a message of support and a reminder to keep fighting. Her own method of empowerment. Her own way of rediscovering wings. Her own magic.

**Author's Note:**

> Hey everyone! I'm so so sorry I haven't been posting for the longest time. University kept me busy. I've recently rediscovered my love for reading a writing and want to post more often now, starting with some already written works from my class. (Just for the record, it's super short because my class has a 2 page limit for our short stories.)


End file.
